and the nominees are...

11 Houston chefs and restaurants score James Beard Award semifinalist nominations for 2024

Houston is well represented on this year’s list of semifinalists for the James Beard Awards. Released today, the group includes 11 nominations splits between four nominees for Best Chef: Texas and seven nominees for national award categories including the night’s top two prizes: Outstanding Restateur and Outstanding Restaurant.

The local nominees for Best Chef: Texas are:

Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast (Spring)
Emmanuel Chavez, Tatemó
Mark Clayton, Squable
Victoria Elizondo, Cochinita & Co

The nominees in the national categories are:

Outstanding Restaurateur: Itai Ben Eli and Itamar Levy, Sof Hospitality Group (Doris Metropolitan, Hamsa, and Bādolina Bakery & Café)
Outstanding Restaurant: Nancy’s Hustle
Emerging Chef: Ope Amosu, ChòpnBlọk
Best New Restaurant: Jun
Outstanding Bakery: Koffeteria
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Stephanie Velasquez, Ema HTX
Outstanding Hospitality: Bludorn

Considered the Oscars of the food world, the awards recognize excellence by chefs and other culinary professionals in a wide range of categories ranging from Outstanding Chef to Best New Restaurant. Winner must also have “demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive,” according to the organization’s website. The awards also include media categories that will be announced on April 30. Recipients of the coveted America’s Classic award will be announced on February 28..

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas boasts eight nominees, San Antonio has five, and Austin received nine.

Houstonians have fared well in the awards recently. Southern-inspired cocktail bar Julep won the city’s first ever national award in 2022 for Outstanding Bar Program. Street to Kitchen chef-owner Benchawan Jabthong Painter followed that up in 2023 by taking home the city’s first Best Chef: Texas award.

Notably, only a few of Houston’s 2023 James Beard semifinalists made this year’s roster. Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemó moves from Best New Restaurant to Best Chef: Texas, where he's joined by Victoria Elizondo, who earned an Emerging Chef nomination in 2023. Nancy’s Hustle moves from Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program to Outstanding Restaurant.

None of last year’s finalists for Best Chef: Texas are named as semifinalists this year, but Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland of Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin have been moved to the national Outstanding Chef category.

Finalists will be announced on April 3. The Foundation will reveal its winners at an awards ceremony on June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Courtesy of Chopd & Stewd

Ope Amosu is nominated for Emerging Chef.

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4 Houston restaurant closings to know: Doughnuts, schnitzel, and Dogwood

Dogwood Houston Facebook

The Dogwood is closing this Sunday, July 5.

This year’s refrain of bar and restaurant closings continues this week, as three more establishments have either announced their final dates of service or quietly shuttered. These announcement follow other recent closures, including Southern-inspired restaurant Killen’s, which is closing July 19, and Mexican staple Picos, which will serve its final meals on August 30.

Here are four more closings to know about this week.

Blue Tuba
The Heights restaurant known for its Eastern European cuisine closed after service on Saturday, June 27, musician David DaLuca shared on Instagram. Opened in the spring of 2024, owners Vlado Kolenic and Giga Leszayova created Blue Tuba after operating a restaurant in New York. Kolenic, a former professional musician (that’s him playing bass on ‘80s classic “Somebody’s Watching Me”) divided his time between the kitchen and the restaurant’s stage, where he’d perform any number of classic hits. Its menu included European specialities rarely seen on Houston menus, such as Hungarian goulash, schnitzel, and chicken paprikash.

The Dogwood
The lively Midtown patio bar will close on Sunday, July 5, according to a post on Instagram. Open since April 2013, the Austin-based concept drew patrons thanks to its indoor-outdoor format and the views from its second story.

Co-owner Jason Carrier paid tribute to the establishment with his own Instagram post, writing in part: “Admittedly, I held on too tight for too long and I’m personally paying the price for that. But I wouldn’t change it for the world. Opening our Dogwood in Houston allowed me to get back to my roots and was a place where my extended family and I had a place we could all connect regularly. I’m so fortunate and lucky that the Astros’ success mirrored Dogwood’s success for those years and Christina was cool with me ‘working’ so much during all the playoff and World Series runs!”

Dogwood will mark its closing with a party on July 4. It will feature live music, drinks, and a view of the fireworks from the second floor.

Istanbul Grill
The celebrated Turkish restaurant is saying goodbye on Sunday, July 19. Part of Rice Village for almost 30 years, the restaurant is closing “due to lease circumstances beyond our control,” according to a message on Facebook. Fan favorite dishes include the meze tabagi mixed appetizer plate, well-cooked kebabs, and fluffy, Turkish-style pizzas (lahmancun).

Voodoo Doughnut
Both the Montrose and Katy locations of the Portland, Oregon-based doughnut shop have quietly closed, Chron reports. That leaves Houston with only one Voodoo outpost — its original Houston location at 3715 Washington Avenue. Open 24 hours a day, Voodoo Doughnut is known for treats such as the such as the Bacon Maple Bar, the Diablos Rex with a vanilla frost pentagram, and the signature Voodoo Doll with raspberry jelly filling.

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